At the 2012 'Borlaug Global Wheat Rust Project (BGRI) Technical Seminar' held in China, a global monitoring system was unveiled on August 31 to track the spread of the wheat rust pathogen known as straw rust.
According to an international team of scientists from countries including Ethiopia, Mexico and Syria, this functional monitoring and monitoring network 'Global Cereal Rust Monitoring System' ('Rust Tracker') now covers wheat in 27 countries and developing countries A large part of the planting area.
Stalk or grain rust is caused by a fungus that invades wheat. It attacks the outer layer of the plant, causing an infection that reduces the number of tillers and seeds produced, and causes the plant to rupture, wither, and even die in severe cases. This pathogen is a major threat to global food security, especially in the developing world.
"New technologies are playing an increasingly important role in rust tracking," the scientists said, and they also cited various dynamic visualization tools and new network resources as examples. "From the survey data collection of pathogen diagnosis, these technologies have already affected several different fields, and their role may also increase in the future."
Dave Hodson, a deep scientist at the Ethiopian-funded International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the developer of the rust tracker, said that mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are now being used for field data collection.
A particular focus is the monitoring of the Ug99 group of stem rust. Ug99 was first discovered in Uganda in 1999. It is a major threat to global wheat production because its fungus is rapidly mutating and spreading around the world. In the wheat field.
"We have found that the Ug99 line has eight species and they have spread to various wheat-growing countries. These countries are Iran, South Africa, Sudan, Yemen and Zimbabwe," Hodson said. "It is inevitable to spread to countries in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world."
But the researchers say it is very difficult to know where Ug99 will be found next.
Ug99 migrated to Iran through the wind, and the wind model indicates that it will most likely continue to migrate to South Asia. Researchers say that only strong vigilance and surveillance cooperation at the global level can detect it.
"The wind model shows that these 'air packages' can reach Asia from Yemen within three days," Hodson said.
“All access to China, the world ’s largest wheat-growing country, including the vast wheat-growing areas across North Africa and Central Asia are still fragile,†the director of the “Wheat Enduring Rust Resistance†project and “Borlaug Ronnie Coffman, Vice Chairman of the Global Rust Project.
Chen Wanquan, deputy director of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said, "More than 90% of the wheat varieties in China are not resistant to the new race Ug99, and Chinese scholars have made Ug99 detection and monitoring, early warning and emergency prevention and control. A lot of effort. "
Hodso said that the next step in stalk rust monitoring will include expanding the geographic coverage of the monitoring network and improving the capabilities of partners—such as by introducing new tools—while also extending more detailed coverage of other rust diseases.
Ravi Prakash Singh, head of the 'Improved Bread Wheat Improvement and Rust Research' project at CIMMYT's Mexico office, said the progress made in tracking rust is obvious.
But he warned, "Wheat fields in a considerable number of countries are still largely unprotected against dangerous pathogens."
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